Has Dave Roberts's “Shelf Live” Expired?

I don’t blame Roberts for theDodgers failing, but perhaps it’s time to discuss AF and his shortcomings in the current development of the 2023 Dodgers roster. Without a lot of research and just based on memory lets talk about some of the questionable acquisitions by AF that put the Dodgers in an apparent salary crunch . After all, we are the freaking Dodgers and we’re supposed to be “pigs” when it comes to spending money and acquiring talent. I think he said that, or something damn near.

In no particular order…..

1. Offering Brett Anderson a QO that saddled the team with a nearly $16 million one year salary. Questionable move.

2. Signing Tommy Kahnle for nearly $5 million for 12 innings of work. WTH?

3. Traded Yordan Alveraz for Josh Fields. What was he thinking?

4. Actually traded for Logan Forsyth who couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat.

5. Traded Oneal Cruz for 2 1/2 months of Tony Watson.

6. Acquired Curtis Granderson for a playoff push and gave him a starting OF gig for the post season.

7. Acquired Brain Dozier who did nothing for the Dodgers.

8. Let Dodger signed and developed Corey Seager walk in FA, but signed CT3 to a 4-year $ 60 million contract

9. Acquired Danny Duffy and extended him for 2022 for $3 million with zero innings pitched.

10. Paid Jimmy Nelson $2.7 million for 29 innings pitched in 2020-2021 and a mind-boggling $700,000 guaranteed even when he couldn’t pitch in 2022. Signed him to a one year 2023 contract for $1.1 Million and is not on the active roster.

11. Signed Blake Treinen for 2023 at $8 million after needing major shoulder surgery and his future as a RP is highly suspect.

12. Signed David Peralta for one year at $6.5 coming off back surgery and seemingly being the same player as Jason Heyward.

13. Acquired Joey Gallo who was a mirror image of Bellinger.

14. One player that is highly touted by some as an OF savior for us is Andy Pages. Don’t forget AF offered him up in a trade with Joc Pederson to the Angels for Luis Rengifo. The deal fell through because of an impatient Arte Moreno but the guy who is touted as a can’t miss minor leaguer was nearly an Angel for Rengifo. WTH?

I’m not saying he hasn’t done some good things with minor league development etc. and some decent trades at the deadline (Machado, Darvish, and TT and Scherzer) but some of the poorly managed salary allocation, coupled with the CBT tax implications, has forced the Dodgers into what appears to be small market mode. Yes, we have a large salary team driven mostly by the big contracts for Mookie, FF, Kershaw and Bauer. Perhaps the margins could have been better spent without the large contracts to those listed above who have played little and perhaps some I have forgotten about.

With all the “hand-wringing” over Doc, perhaps the next post should be a discussion about AF with a critical discussion about whether or not he’s all that great as many at LADT think he is. Just saying.

THIS team will go on a winning run streak before the ASG, Haven’t you seen it many times before? At this moment the Dodgers are not playing up to their potentials. Last night Mookie was on base for Freeman’s HR which is a sign of change for the better and it will click. There’s been spells when Dodgers suck every season and sure that makes for discomfort but what you see will be different from what you get. These guys are better will soon feed off one another. What kind of a streak will it take feel not all is lost? because that’s coming.

We’ve seen the story of us dominating the division and league from beginning to end and we’ve seen that gets us nowhere come October.

So may as well make it more interesting now in 2023.

But, in the meantime, Go Lakers and Go Kings Go!

Kershaw day.

Lets get a W.

Oh, and 2020, I think Doc did a masterful job that season, which culminated in a wire to wire World Series Championship…..

Someone brought up the bullpen. The thing with the bullpen is that Doc doesn’t know how to use it early in the season, but as time goes on, he starts to learn things that were obvious all along and then the bullpen finishes strong. This isn’t to say he doesn’t make mistakes late in the season and the playoffs because he sure does.

This isn’t a Doc hater post by the way. I gave him credit for learning as time goes on and the bullpen finishing strong.

Well Mark, great click bait Post today. My hat’s off to you.

How have you been feeling lately? Managing a business, dealing with back issues, and maybe having some subconscious worry about A-Fib is exhausting.

May your day be bright,

Your mood be light,

And your heart be filled with delight.

Heyward was the one auditioning for a spot on the team in spring training not Outman. I’ve seen it many times in spring training. When there is a non roster player that the Dodgers are considering for a spot on the roster, that guy gets a lot of at bats leading off in spring training, so the powers that be can take a good look at that guy. Take a look at who hit leadoff the most in spring training, it was none other than Heyward by far.

And don’t come back at me with the Freddie Freeman pulled strings for Heyward crap and so Heyward was always going to get a spot on the team. When Lux went down to injury the door opened for Heyward not Outman to make the team. Peralta was signed to be the LF against RHP and Thompson or Taylor the LF against LHP with the other one as plan B. Outman was always going to get his shot on the team.

Before Lux went down to injury Thompson was on the bubble and Heyward was breathing down his back.

Good candidates to be the Dodgers Manager one they know the game pretty well and could motivate a clubhouse and the guys play hard for there manager. 1). Chase Utley long time player knows the game the players would play for him. 2) Justin Turner I know he’s not done playing but as soon as he retires I wouldn’t mind seeing him run the clubhouse. 3) Will Clark hitting coach of the Giants he tells his players to run to first base and if they don’t guess what they sit on the bench. Who he is and in charge. He would a manager the guys play for and respect the guys play tough for him and know he knows his stuff. There’s some names. But we all know Roberts is fine. He won’t be let go because he just does what the computer tells him to do from up above and relayed down to the dugout. That’s why these older managers like Melvin Showalter Baker Bochy are still around. There teams win because of baseball IQ and not listening to the people upstairs.

I am as skeptical as anyone but can’t believe the splenic comments over the past few days. Mark has come close to shutting this place down several times but has kept it up as a service to Dodger fans. He engages in name calling or put downs once in a while, but doesn’t deserve the vitriol that he has received over the past few days.

The Dodgers have gotten off to a slow start this year, so everyone wants to fire Andrew Friedman or Dave Roberts. We shouldn’t forget that the Dodgers have won more games in the last 3 full seasons than any team in major league history – so they didn’t win the Series. There are more rounds of playoffs making it a bit more random to win than it used to be. Dusty Baker’s Astros won it last year – and Dusty had never won the Series before. Was he a bad manager before? Is he a good one now?

I agree that Roberts is not the best game strategist, but that’s not what he’s called upon to do now. He does what the front office wants him to do and does it well from all accounts.

The Dodgers can’t sign every big star free agent, nor do they want to. They have to grow their own and give them a chance to see if they can do the job. This will sometimes lead to a down year once in a while. In the long run though it leads to long term success. The Dodgers have won and grown their own for several seasons now. How many other teams can say the same?

I have looked at this year as transitional. I don’t expect them to win the division. I do expect them to play better than they have played. I am not satisfied with the old vets that they have signed as gap fillers (Peralta, Heyward, Rojas) and the lineup that they run out is not always competitive. I was certain before the season that infield defense and outfield offense would be issues and I am not surprised that they are now.

I am surprised that the starting pitching is not better and the bullpen is a disaster right now. I have heard of bullpen volatility but am surprised that 5 of 9 relievers have ERAs over 4, and 3 of 9 have ERAs 6 or higher. Some of this will sort itself out as the season goes on – guys will improve over the season, and other will be replaced. I expect that the pitching will improve but that infield defense and the length of the lineup will continue to be issues.

Many of these things will likely be corrected before next season – I don’t know about this year.

The Dodgers won the Series in ’55, returned (to lose) in ’56, and were bad in ’57 and ’58 – would you have fired Walter Alston then? He got them to the Series 4 more times in 8 years and won it three times. A bad start to ’23 and we are already calling for Roberts’ head after winning 111 games last year?

Everyone calm down. Stop the name calling. We are all Dodger fans here. We should be on the same side. We can disagree without being A**holes.

It’s that time of the year again, apparently. Dodgers have a bad couple weeks (doesn’t matter if it’s the beginning of the season or middle) and fans come out of the woodwork to dust off the guillotine and demand we all storm the Bastille.

This is silliness. I’m not a huge fan of Roberts. Never have been. But I’d not know of anybody available who could do better.

Let’s fire the most successful manager of the last decade, whom the players love… that’s the ticket.

Send the clubhouse into turmoil, insert some rando into the manager jobs to learn everything about the players, understand how the organization works, grasp the philosophy and strategy that AF requires be implemented and do all that in a matter of days.

That’s the ticket. Dodgers have a chest cold. So let’s kick them in the nuts and smash em over the head with a frying pan. That will fix everything.

That’s all I have to say about that.

dodgerrick & Jayne Cobb;

AMEN

Andy Pages, Ben Casparius, Kyle Nevin win minor league player of the week honors

Anyone else concerned that we will get swept this series?

Megill has been great and Mad Max will definitely want to show us what we are missing. I’m definitely closing my eyes these next two games. I hate to be so negative but I just don’t think our team is THAT good any longer.

Losing Buehler, Gonsolin, Bauer, Tre, and Lux is a lot to lose, especially seeing we haven’t replaced them with anywhere near their talent level. I know some would say Cody too, but I’m optimistic Eric’s guy- Outman-can adequately replace him.

Juan Toribio wrote this as to why Hunter Feduccia was not called uP:

“The Dodgers could’ve also opted to go with Hunter Feduccia, who is off to a strong start in Triple-A, but adding him to the 40-man roster could’ve been risky once the Dodgers start to get healthier on the pitching side and need to clear spots.”

I have a question for all of you. Every time I try to visit the Dodgers Digest website it gets blocked. I get a statement saying it is a Phishing website. Is there a problem with the site, or is my computer wacky?

10:10 PM ET

Mets (11-6)

Dodgers (8-9)

SP Tylor Megill R

3-0 2.25 ERA16K 13K

SP Clayton Kershaw L

2-1 3.50 ERA 18IP 17K

Confirmed Lineup

CF James Outman L

1B F. Freeman L

DH J. Martinez R

3B Max Muncy L

RF J. Heyward L

2B M. Vargas R

LF D. Peralta L

SS Miguel Rojas R

C A. Barnes R

Partly-cloudy-day

1% Precipitation

61° Wind 9 mph Out

Clayton goes for his 200th win tonight

Dodgers catcher Will Smith won’t play during the three-game series against the Mets at Dodger Stadium, but the team is eying Thursday’s series opener at Wrigley Field in Chicago for Smith’s return, the earliest day he’s eligible to be activated off the seven-day concussion injured list.

“The hope is to activate him [Thursday], but it’s all contingent on how he’s feeling,” manager Dave Roberts said.

Tuesday schedule

11 a.m. PT: Rancho Cucamonga (Payton Martin) vs. Fresno [Rockies] (Caleb Franzen)

3:05 p.m.: Great Lakes (TBD) vs. South Bend [Cubs] (TBD)

4:05 p.m.: Tulsa (Nick Frasso) vs. Wichita [Twins] (Blayne Enlow)

5:35 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Matt Andriese) at Albuquerque [Rockies] (Karl Kauffmann)

Dodgers News: Mookie Betts Placed on Paternity Leave, Luke Williams Added to Active Roster

The Dodgers made a roster move on Tuesday and it wasn’t the move we expected after Chris Taylor suffered an injury last night. Instead, Mookie Betts is heading out on paternity leave as he and his wife Brianna welcome their second child. Taking Mookie’s spot on the active roster is infielder Luke Williams, who spent time with the club during spring training.

The Dodgers haven’t announced a corresponding roster move to get Williams on the 40-man.

Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic was the first to report the news.

Dodgers Press Release

DODGERS SELECT LUKE WILLIAMS

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers selected the contract of infielder Luke Williams and placed Mookie Betts on the paternity list. In order to make room for Williams on the 40-man roster, the Dodgers placed right-handed pitcher Daniel Hudson on the 60-day injured list.

Williams, 26, appeared in 14 games for Triple-A Oklahoma City, batting .375 (21-for-56) with eight doubles, two homers and 13 RBI. In 500 career minor league games, he has amassed 26 homers and 187 RBI while hitting .245. He made his Major League debut in 2021 with the Philadelphia Phillies and has appeared in 137 games between Philadelphia (2021), San Francisco (2022) and Miami (2022), hitting .240 (54-for-225) with two homers and 12 RBI. He signed with the Dodgers on February 3, 2023.

Betts, 30, has appeared in all 17 games for the Dodgers this season, hitting .266 (17-for-64) with two homers and six RBI. He is in his fourth season with the Dodgers and he has slashed .271/.356/.518 with 76 homers and 185 RBI in 336 games with the Boys in Blue. He is in his 10th Major League season, and he has amassed 215 homers and 655 RBI while hitting .292 (1323-for-4524) in 1,130 games. The 2018 American League MVP was originally drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the fourth round of the 2011 Draft out of Overton High School (Nashville, TN).

Today, several people basically said, “what kind of idiot hits Chris Taylor 4th?”

Here’s the kind of idiot who does that:

Joe Maddon did it and lots of people thought he was one of the best managers in baseball.

Some of you do not speak English. I’m not sure what language it is, but it sounds like Bullshit!

Dave Roberts said very early in spring training Heyward would be on the roster. I doubt Outman would have made it if not for the Lux injury.

I figured once the season actually started people would have something to comment on other than whether the Dodgers would’ve won as many games with Roberts as the manager.

I think every angle of this has been discussed ad nauseam (emphasis on the nauseam part) for literally years now. The site blew up. People were banned. People left in a huff, never to return. … and we’re at it again? What more needs to be said?

– Roberts is not the best in-game tactician. (check)

– Roberts is probably pretty good at managing an organization, including both players and interacting with the front office and stats division (check)

– The Dodgers have had a historic run with him at the helm (check)

– There is absolutely no possible way to determine whether another warm body in the manager’s position would have done better or worse. That is an impossible question to answer. (check)

The only way to know if Sparky Anderson would have done better than Roberts is to take out the custom DeLorean and go back to 1975, kidnap Sparky Anderson, transplant 1975 Sparky into the managerial position at Dodgers Stadium in 2015 and see what happens from then until now.

Good grief! Don’t you people get tired of arguing the same stuff over and over again?

Questioning the manager? Lasorda would have told us all where to go in a 15 minute f laced tirade! Like he did to poor Doug Rau!

According to MLB.com, Mookie might play some at shortstop upon his return. If he’s as adept as he is as second base, it could be worth considering. According to the article, he’d rather play there than right field.

I’m curious why Dave Roberts leaves pitchers in for a prolonged drubbing like 9 runs or 4 HR’s. It seems counterproductive. Also, why set Thompson up for failure by platooning him and having him hit lefties when he has reverse splits ?

I thought this team would have a team BA almost as good as last year and could be competitive even with a lower BA because there would not be the dead zone at the bottom of the order. So far it is not working out that way and there is a bigger dead zone.

As for Roberts this year he puts a horrible lineup out there because his roster is not performing. His bench is worse so there is no good move coming out of that dugout or bullpen. I expected 95 wins but maybe that’s too high. Hopefully, the players start to perform. If not let’s see what some of the prospects can do. I’d rather see them than retreads. Then there is always the trade deadline.